Move from Flexi Fare to Flat Fare increase
75% of us said we want Flat Fare Increase. Will Railway implement it from next year?
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu may not readily admit, but the flexi fare scheme he introduced in premium trains to shore up the railways’ revenue has flopped.
The chartered accountant in him thought the passengers will easily yield more under the surge pricing introduced in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto Express trains, but a top railway official disclosed that the revenue collection in the first half of October rather declined by a whopping Rs 232 crore as compared to the previous year.
He said the trend is likely to continue during the winter vacations, Christmas and New Year as a majority of seats in Rajdhani and Shatabdi are vacant for the months of December and January. These include trains to destinations like Goa, Mumbai, Kerala, Kolkata, Lucknow and Chennai.
Occupancy in these trains has been hit by 15 to 20 per cent since after the flexi fare scheme was introduced. Prabhu has been given the disappointing figures of the revenue collection, but he asked the officials not to jump to any conclusion so early, as he knows many passengers are getting flight tickets at cheaper rates. He said the scheme will be reviewed only after three months and not abandoned so early.
The railways” revenue collection from October 1 to 10 was Rs 4,072 crore as against Rs 4,304 crore during the same period in 2015. Prabhu’s calculation was that the surge pricing will help earn no less than Rs 1,000 in a year, out of which Rs 200 crore will come in October alone on account of many festivals.
Trains like Mumbai Rajdhani, August Kranti Rajdhani, Sealdah Rajdhani and Trivandrum Rajdhani that used to have a long waiting list are running with many vacant seats as the airlines are offering tickets to destinations like Goa, Mumbai and Kochi at prices as low as Rs 3,000. The same is the case with the Shatabdi trains to places like Amritsar, Lucknow and Bhopal having low occupancy as the people are preferring to travel by other trains not brought under the surge pricing scheme.
The surge pricing scheme stipulates fares to increase with every 10 per cent of the berths sold until the hike goes up to 50 per cent. The scheme is applicable to AC 2 tier, AC 3 tier and AC chair car in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains as also in the sleeper class in the Dunronto express. more
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu may not readily admit, but the flexi fare scheme he introduced in premium trains to shore up the railways’ revenue has flopped.
The chartered accountant in him thought the passengers will easily yield more under the surge pricing introduced in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto Express trains, but a top railway official disclosed that the revenue collection in the first half of October rather declined by a whopping Rs 232 crore as compared to the previous year.
He said the trend is likely to continue during the winter vacations, Christmas and New Year as a majority of seats in Rajdhani and Shatabdi are vacant for the months of December and January. These include trains to destinations like Goa, Mumbai, Kerala, Kolkata, Lucknow and Chennai.
Occupancy in these trains has been hit by 15 to 20 per cent since after the flexi fare scheme was introduced. Prabhu has been given the disappointing figures of the revenue collection, but he asked the officials not to jump to any conclusion so early, as he knows many passengers are getting flight tickets at cheaper rates. He said the scheme will be reviewed only after three months and not abandoned so early.
The railways” revenue collection from October 1 to 10 was Rs 4,072 crore as against Rs 4,304 crore during the same period in 2015. Prabhu’s calculation was that the surge pricing will help earn no less than Rs 1,000 in a year, out of which Rs 200 crore will come in October alone on account of many festivals.
Trains like Mumbai Rajdhani, August Kranti Rajdhani, Sealdah Rajdhani and Trivandrum Rajdhani that used to have a long waiting list are running with many vacant seats as the airlines are offering tickets to destinations like Goa, Mumbai and Kochi at prices as low as Rs 3,000. The same is the case with the Shatabdi trains to places like Amritsar, Lucknow and Bhopal having low occupancy as the people are preferring to travel by other trains not brought under the surge pricing scheme.
The surge pricing scheme stipulates fares to increase with every 10 per cent of the berths sold until the hike goes up to 50 per cent. The scheme is applicable to AC 2 tier, AC 3 tier and AC chair car in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains as also in the sleeper class in the Dunronto express. more
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A few observations: (a) How will a flat increase in pricing improve the occupancy of Premium trains? I should say, this would worsen the condition, especially for those who would prefer to travel at low cost by booking early. In fact, I propose to include Surge Pricing concept in all trains, not just the premium ones. (b) Flight tickets are at their lowest, thanks to the low price of crude. But things are not going to be the same for ever. Bet, the long wait-list in trains would return, sooner or later. Furthermore, ground reality tells differently. Was trying to book a Rajdhani ticket for 10th November between Delhi and Mumbai. It's Waitlisted 40 (AC2T). Same with August Kranti. (c) Improving efficiency is a key way forward. But easier said than done, considering the immense size of Indian Railways. Things seems to be moving at the right direction though. more
Oct 31
Who says people do not grudge? Of course they do grudge. But they have no option. I agree with Mr Sridhar Kumar that this is not the method to earn more. Corruption is the root of all problems in India. Even a peon is corrupt. One cannot enter the cabin of the boss unless the peon blesses. In my opinion even tatkal is a wrong move. Earlier only about 3 to 4 tatkal tickets used to be issued and the primium was high. All tickets were normal reserved tickets. Now almost 50% of seats are tatkal. This is nothing short of nonsense and Mr Sadasivan says people do not grudge. What a joke? more
Oct 31
railway revenue has flopped due to the highly paid IRS officials sitting and planning in chambers. Hardly they work for 4-5 hours a day. This happens with 75% railway officers. Waste of funds is a second problem as major railway earning is spent on wasteful company promotions. Â A bus owner earns and multiply buses where as railway always cry of loss . Why? A Particular group partial ism is also a matter of concern. In fact the employees with currupt background should be removed from service which railways do not do. Lot of rail; officials were caught red handed but are not charge sheeted . Now it is passengers to pay? shridhar shivaraman On Thursday, 27 October 2016 5:30 AM, Ashish Verma wrote: more
Oct 31
THE THINKING BEHIND 'FLEXI FARE' IS VERY VALID.!!.. PEOPLE DO NOT GRUDGE PAYING DOUBLE THE FARE TO A TRAVEL AGENT TO OBTAIN A BERTH/ SEAT IN A TRAIN WHEN THEY HAVE TO TRAVEL. WHILE THEY WOULD NOT GRUDGE PAYING A HIGH PREMIUM TO THE TRAVEL AGENT FOR A SEAT - THEY WOULD ALWAYS PROTEST VOCIFEROUSLY IF THEY HAVE TO PAY ANY ADDITIOPNAL AMOUNT TO THE RAILWAYS ITSELF SINCE THEY FEEL THAT GOVT " SHOULD NOT INDULGE IN PROFITEERING " ...WHY NOT...??.. RAILWAYS IS NOT A "CHARITABLE ORGANISATION" TO DOLE OUT ALL THE NEEDS OF THE PUBLIC FREE OF COST.!!. WHAT I DO DIFFER WITH, IN THE CURRENT SYSTEM OF RAILWAYS IS "THEIR METHOD OF IMPLEMENTATION"..!!.. I WISH THAT THE SURGE PRICING STARTS FROM A LEVEL OF 50% RESERVATION. I ALSO WISH, ALL THE EMERGENCY QUOTAS ARE ALLOTTED ON THE BASIS OF "SURGE PRICING" ONLY. WHILE I DO NOT GRUDGE THE FREE TRAVEL GIVEN BY RAILWAYS TO ITS EMPLOYEES, I DO GRUDGE THE LIFETIME FREE RIDE GIVEN TO "EX EMPLOYEES AND THEIR FAMILIES, ALIVE OR DEAD" ..!!.. HOPE MR PRABHU CAN WORK OUT A REASONABLE SCHEME FOR OFFSETTING THE CURRENT SURGE PRICING SO THAT "EVERY RUN BY EACH OF THE NOTED PREMIUM TRAINS CONTINUE TO MAKE THEIR NORMAL PROFITS AND MORE" AND NO TRAIN RUNS WITH EMPTY SEATS/BERTHS DUE TO CURRENT SYSTEM OF SURGE PRICING. more
Oct 30
